First year of High School
by Kurozu-Elric
Summary: It's Ed and Winry's first year of 'Big Bad High School'. Will Winry be able to cope with the trails of high school as well as her feelings for Ed? Definate EdxWinry. Rated for minor language.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

My name is Winry Rockbell. I'm fifteen and just started my first year at high school. My childhood friend, Edward came with me being as we're the same age and live right next to each other, but his younger broth Alphonse is still in middle school. Meaning, for the first day at least, it was just going to be me and Edward, alone. And that's what scared me most about going to Amestris High. I wasn't afraid of going to a huge place, or going somewhere with a lot more people then what I was used to. No, I was afraid of being alone, with the one person I had a huge crush on.

I woke up early the first morning, and took a long shower, playing out what might happen that day in my head. The warm water beat down on my back in a soothing rhythm, allowing my mind to wonder peacefully. Maybe everything would turn out ok. Ed and I would just talk and hang out like normal friends and I wouldn't do anything awkward or stupid in front of him to totally embarrass myself. Or maybe he would get the hint, or maybe I would say a little bit too much, and he would be disgusted that I thought of him that way. I was so used to having his little brother Al around that being alone with Ed made me worried.

Once the hot water was gone, I got out of the shower, put on the high school uniform, then went downstairs to get some breakfast. As usual, my grandma had breakfast all laid out for me on the table and was now watching the news on TV. I'd been living with Grandma since I was about 5, when my parents both died in a horrible plane wreck. They were doctors and were coming home from a business trip when their plane got caught in a storm. After that, my grandma took me in, and I've been living with her ever since.

I sat down and began to eat my breakfast, which consisted of two over-easy eggs, three strips of bacon, a grapefruit, and a glass of milk. I had nearly finished when Grandma walked over.

"Well, was that a satisfying breakfast Winry?" she asked me. I nodded, my mouth still full of egg. She chuckled then fondly started playing with my hair.

"Good luck with your first day of big bad high school Winry. Don't let anyone pick on you, you hear? If anyone does I'm sure Edward will handle them but just in case you can always come to me ok?" she continued.

"Ya, ya, I can handle myself you know. I don't need Ed to take care of anything! I'm sure everything will be just fine Grandma." I replied. I took my last drink of milk then stood up and put my dishes in the sink.

"I'm off to go do my hair and stuff ok? Can you tell me when it's 7:00? The bus arrives at 7:10." I asked as I headed up the stairs, back up to my room and the bathroom.

"Of course dear, go make your self cute for Edward." She chuckled. At this I tripped on a stair and nearly fell all the way back down the stair case.

"Grandma!" I whined at her. She just giggled and went back to watching the news. I took a big, exasperated breath then ran up into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and then pulled my long blond hair up into a ponytail, leaving locks of hair hanging free on both sides, framing my face. This was my usual hairstyle that I wore nearly every day for no real reason. I just liked the way it looked and was the cutest look for my hair in my opinion. I sighed as I straightened out my bangs then looked at myself in the mirror. Something seemed to be missing. Oh yeah, I was so tired I had forgotten to put I my earrings. I quickly grabbed my earrings and put them in, just in time to hear Grandma yelling for me. I ran to my room, grabbed my school bag, and then headed down the stairs.

"Come here and give me a hug before you go." Grandma said, holding her arms out to me. I smiled and hugged her.

"Wish me luck." I sighed as I let go and grabbed for my coat.

"Good luck Winry and have fun. I want to hear all about it when you get home!" she called after me as I headed out the door. I waved then closed the door behind me. The morning air was warm, colored leaves swirling in the autumn breeze. I took a deep breath, smelling the air. It was so calming I nearly had a heart attack when a voice sounded off next to me.

"Nice morning isn't it?"

I looked over to see Edward Elric standing there in his uniform, a light black jacket on over top. His long, golden hair was pulled back in a braid like usual, his bangs fluttering in the wind. His beautiful gold eyes looked up at me innocently as he waited for me to reply.

"Uh, yeah it is. I love this time of year." I agreed clumsily.

"Well let's go. Don't wanna miss the bus on the first day." He chuckled as he walked off. I followed, noticing the elevated boots Ed was wearing, obviously meant to make him taller.

"Nice boots Ed." I poked, teasing him as usual. He turned his head and looked at me, suspicion in his eyes.

"Ya I liked 'em. Why?" he said casually.

"So how tall do they make you overall, five foot?" I asked, knowing that was totally pushing it.

"What was that you mechanic freak?!" He mused. I had hit it right on. "You wanna start something?!?"

"Hey I was just wondering!" I said innocently, holding in the urge to laugh. Edward was only about 4'11" even though he was fifteen years old. He had always been short for his age and he hated it. So naturally he was super touchy about any comments on his height.

"You know if you would just drink you milk you might not need those things." I sighed.

"MILK HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT! THAT CRAP IS USLESS!"

Just then the bus pulled up and I ran to it, leaving Ed and his objections. I hopped on, followed by Edward and we both sat down in a seat. [I got window. Hehe] We were the first on the bus so it was dead silent for the first few minutes. Eventually though, more and more people began to get on until the bus was bustling with activity. The people who sat in front of us looked about a year older. One was a rather good looking black haired guy, and the other an also not to bad looking guy with brown hair. Suddenly both guys turned around and looked at me warmly.

"Hey there, you knew here?" the brown haired one asked. I nodded and slightly nudged Edward, who wasn't paying attention because he was listening to his Ipod. He looked up and pulled out one of his headphones.

"I'm Jean Havoc. It's a pleasure to meet you." The guy continued, holding out his hand.

"Ya, I'm Winry Rockbell." I said as I shook his hand.

"I'm Roy Mustang," the other guy said. We shook hands also and he flashed me a hypnotizing smile. "It's great to meet you Winry. If you need a tour of the school I'm your guide." He said. Was it just me, or was this guy trying to flirt with me?

"Uh thanks. Me and Ed might need someone to show us around." I said nodding towards Edward. Ed said nothing but waved at Roy, obviously paying more attention to his music then the conversation. Roy looked over at Edward then back at me.

"Sure, the shrimp can come too I suppose." He said nonchalantly. At that Ed ripped out his other headphone and sat up at the edge of the seat.

"You got a problem with me buddy?!" he growled angrily. Roy hardly glanced at Ed before speaking to me.

"So who do you have for homeroom?"

"I was talking to you!" Ed snapped. Roy leaned up against the window and looked at Ed.

"What do you want pipsqueak?" he asked lazily.

"Come on Roy, leave the kid alone." A girl sitting across from us sighed. I looked over at the girl curiously as she easily talked to the hottie as if it was nothing.

"Stop eavesdropping Riza, it's annoying." Roy complained.

"Then you stop flirting with every girl you see and stop teasing people who are new." Riza ordered. Her voice was smooth, cool, and strong. I could tell she was definitely not a girl who got pushed around easily. Roy rolled his eyes and faced the front of the bus, so his back was now to us. Havoc turned around also and Riza leaned over to us.

"Sorry about him. He's nothing more then a flirty hot shot. Just ignore him alright?" she said her voice suddenly much softer.

"Right thanks." Edward nodded. "I'll do that."

"So you're Riza then?" I asked.

"That's right. My name is Riza Hawkeye. And you're Winry and Edward, correct?" We both nodded.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you both." She smiled warmly.

The rest of the bus ride I stared out the window, my mind drifting off, thinking about nothing in particular. When we finally arrived, we slowly made our way out of the crowed bus and found ourselves in front of our new school, Amestris High.

"Wow lucky us! We got the same homeroom Winry!" Ed chuckled as we walked down the hall, both holding our schedules.

"Ya, what were the odds of that?" I replied. "Ugh man I have Gym right after though! Why do I have to have it in the morning when I'm still tired?!?" I complained, studying my schedule.

"Hehe, that's just your luck Winry! I have math. Not to bad." Ed teased. I gave him the best death glare I could muster up but he just laughed. We reached our homeroom and walked through the door. Everyone was still talking and standing around, waiting for the teacher to arrive. I quickly scanned the room to make sure that Mustang guy wasn't in my homeroom. Luckily I didn't see him.

"Let's go sit down" Ed said as he motioned towards two vacant desks in the back of the room. I nodded and followed as he walked over and sat down. I sat next to him and sighed.

"Well, here we are; big bad high school!" I giggled as I said my grandma's name for the place.

"Yup, we're alive so far but the day has only begun." Ed laughed as he leaned back in his chair. I just looked at him as he leaned his head back, looking at the ceiling, and propped his feet up on the desk. Boy did he look nervous about it being the first day. [NOT] But then, Ed didn't get nervous. Well not unless he fell asleep through a class then found out we're gunna have a test the next day. Then he would go running to me or anyone else to copy their notes. But other then that he was a relaxed, easy going guy who you could really look up to.

"Something up?" Ed asked as he looked over and noticed I was looking at him. My eyes widened and I could feel my cheeks begin to grow warm. I quickly looked down at my lap to hide the fact that I was most likely blushing and to avoid eye contact.

"No nothing, sorry." I replied. I could feel his eyes on me and I slowly looked up at him. I made the mistake of looking directly at his eyes and my mind went completely blank.

"What, you nervous?" he asked. My mouth opened but no sound came out. Just then the teacher, a rather scrawny man who looked to be in his mid forties, walked in and the room grew silent. I immediately turned to the front, leaving Edward's entrancing eyes behind. _Saved. God I already almost lost it! _I thought to myself. _I'm so hopeless; I'm surprised he hasn't found out yet._

"Hello everyone, and welcome to another wonderful year of school! My name is Mr. Kiamura. I want to welcome you all to Amestris High."

_Bla, bla, bla. _As the teacher was talking my mind was wandering. I just couldn't concentrate. Before I knew it, it was time to go to the next class. The bell rang, making me jump, and everyone got up and out of their seats in a flurry. I blinked then stood up out of my seat.

"Wow that guy talks a lot." Ed moaned as he stood up. "Let's just hope the history teacher isn't that boring. If so then I'm doomed. I'll never stay awake!" I nodded in agreement and headed for the door.

"Well, it's time for me to go do exercise before 9:00 A.M! Wish me luck!" I said in sarcastic joy.

"Ha, have fun Winry, I'm off to go do math." Ed chuckled, clearly wanting to rub it in. I rolled my eyes at him and smacked his shoulder. We waved goodbye and went our separate ways leaving me to go to gym.

As I suspected, gym was torturous. Then again, I had never been a fan of being forced to do stupid exercises. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a lazy, out of shape girl by any means, but the stuff you do in gym seems like torture no matter how you look at it. It didn't help that we had to wear highly unattractive and uncomfortable gym uniforms.

Finally, the bell rang and I was free. I quickly changed out then headed for my next class, chemistry. Crap. This year I wouldn't have Ed to help me with science! Ok well actually I cheated off his papers most of the time. He was a natural science wiz while I was less then average, so naturally I did what was the smart thing. I looked at the wiz's paper. Al always scolded me for it though. He was always such a goody-goody about stuff like that. He would always warn me,

"_You know one of these days the teachers gunna catch you guys. Then you'll be in a world of trouble."_ That never stopped us though. In exchange for him helping me with science, I always helped him with history, which he _always _fell asleep through. Well, good for him we had history together this year. Lucky him.

I made it in to the classroom and sat down next to a girl with short brown hair and somewhat dorky glasses, who was sitting alone in the back. She looked up and smiled at me as I sat down next to her, her emerald green eyes bright behind the thick lenses of her glasses.

"Hi there," she whispered. I nodded and said hi back when I noticed Roy sitting a table away from me, looking at me. Crap, I really didn't want to deal with him again. I turned to the girl and decided I would try and make conversation.

"Hi, I'm Winry." I greeted as I held out my hand. She took my hand and shook it slightly.

"Hey, I'm Sciezka." She replied. I racked my brain for something to talk about but I could feel Roy's eyes burning into me. I quickly looked over at him and wished I hadn't. We made eye contact and he flashed another one of those dazzling smiles at me. He looked like he was about to get up, but just then the teacher walked in. I sighed in relief and slumped down on the table.

Most of the class was spent discussing how things were going to work in the class and such things like that. It seemed to take for ever, and Roy kept glancing at me the whole time. Finally class was over and I headed out the door.

"Hey Winry!" Mustang called as I walked down the hall. I continued walking, speeding up slightly, pretending not to hear him. Apparently he gave up because he didn't call again and I made it to my metal shop class in peace.

Again, class went by without much event and then it was finally time for lunch. I stood at my locker putting everything away when somebody leaned over to me.

"Hey there," I looked over and there stood Roy Mustang, an innocent grin on his face.

"Can I help you?" I asked, forcing my voice to stay calm. I closed my locker then turned to face him.

"I just wanted to talk that's all. I tried to get you after chemistry but I guess you didn't hear me." he replied calmly.

"Hmm, I guess not. So what do you need?" I said nonchalantly. His smile grew bigger and he straightened up.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to sit with me at lunch so we could maybe get to know each other. Then if you wanted we hang out sometime outside of school." he suggested.

_That jerk! He's hitting on me big time and he hardly even knows me,_ I bit my lip and forced myself to stay clam. I opened my mouth to say something but just then Edward walked up.

"Hey Winry, what's up?" he asked as he stopped right in front of me and grinned. I could see Roy eyeing Ed in frustration but he said nothing.

"Hey Ed, how was the first half of your day?" I asked, doing my best to ignore the frustrated Mustang next to me. Ed shrugged.

"Eh, it was ok, mostly just a bunch of teachers talking. But it's the first day so it's to be expected I guess." I nodded then turned to Roy.

"We'll talk later ok?" I told him. I then grabbed Ed by the arm and started down the hall.

"Lets get to lunch, I'm starved!" I sighed. Ed glanced back at the annoyed Mustang then looked forward.

"Was he bugging you again?" Ed whispered. I let go of him arm and looked back at him. His eyes were deep with concern but the rest of his features were mutual. I shrugged.

"Nah, nothing I can't handle." I lied. "He was just flirting a little. No worries."

Ed scoffed. "Guys like that get so annoying. They think any girl is fair game."

I had nothing to say to this so I kept quiet and kept walking. Edward sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"So after lunch we have history together huh?" he said, changing the subject.

"Yup, just try not to fall asleep on the first day ok Ed?" I chuckled. He grinned mischievously at me.

"Who me? Fall asleep? You're crazy. I think your ponytail's to tight Winry." He accused. I rolled my eyes and shoved him, causing him to stumble a little. I giggled, and then let out a slight yelp as he shoved me in return. I was about to get him back when a voice sounded off behind us.

"Now now you two, no shoving in the hallways."

We both turned around to see Riza walking behind us, grinning.

"Hey there Riza" Ed greeted. Riza nodded as she caught up with us.

"How's your day going you two?" she asked.

"Pretty good I guess." Ed shrugged.

"Same here," I agreed.

"Don't worry; things will get a lot better. The first day is usually a bit dull. So, you off to lunch?"

"You bet. I'm starved!" I nodded. She chuckled.

"If there's one thing this school has, its good lunches." She said.

We made it into the crowded lunchroom and headed to the line. Once we had got our lunches, Riza lead us to a table and sat down. Also at the table were a boy with black cropped hair and round glasses, a rather chubby boy with reddish hair, and a tall skinny guy with his hair obviously dyed silver. Also sitting there was Jean Havoc.

"Hey there Riza," the black haired one said.

"Hello Fuery." She nodded.

"Hey where's Roy at?" asked the pudgy one.

"He'll be here." Riza said.

"Hey, if it isn't the two new Freshies!" Havoc exclaimed, seeing Ed and me. Suddenly all attention was on us. I felt a little embarrassed, but Ed just sat down casually. I quickly sat down next to him and looked around at all the guys.

"Hey there" the one name Fuery greeted.

"Hi," I replied quietly.

"Ed, Winry, this is Fuery. The silver haired guy is Falman, you already know Havoc, and the guy next to him is Breda." Riza introduced. We all said our hello's then dug into our lunch. The guys all launched into various conversation, Riza included, leaving me and Ed to talk. But honestly, I was ok with that.

"So, how was gym eh? Get your exercise?" Ed teased. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Ya I did, sadly enough. And the gym outfits are horrible! Ugh, it's like they purposefully made them uncomfortable! And ugly." I whined.

"Who cares if their ugly, it's just for one period." Ed replied. Guy's; they just don't understand.

"Just wait till you have to wear them! You'll see exactly what I'm talking about."

"Whatever," he sighed, then shoved the last bit of his sandwich in his mouth.


	2. Chapter 2: End of day one

After lunch, Ed and I made our way down to history. The walk was silent, neither of us talking. I didn't know what Ed was thinking about but I couldn't get over the events at lunch.

At the lunch table Riza, Havoc, Fuery, Breda, and Falman had all become absorbed in their own conversation as Ed and I talked. It was rather peaceful, nothing odd or embarrassing going on, but then _he_ came over. Roy Mustang had come over and sat at our table, right across from Riza.

At first I didn't notice he was there. But then I noticed Edward looking distracted. I looked to see what he was looking at and saw Roy and Riza, talking like old friends. I was totally taken aback. Just a few hours before Riza had told Roy off, telling me and Ed he was nothing but a flirty hot-shot. Then all of a sudden she was laughing and talking to Roy as if they were the best of friends? I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I had wanted to confront Riza about it, but I couldn't bring myself to say a word and just ended up looking away and focusing on my lunch once again.

"Well, here we are,"

I was wrenched from my thoughts as Edward announced our arrival to the history room. I blinked then nodded. We entered the room then headed over to some vacant desks. The teacher was already in the room, sitting at her desk. She looked nice enough, young unlike your stereo-typical history teacher. Overall she was a rather beautiful woman, well built and in shape, and there was something about her that made her seem strong, like she was silently, maybe subconsciously, demanding respect from all those around her.

I couldn't help but feel drawn to her, but silently sat down next to my best friend. After about another minute filled with kids coming in from lunch, the teacher stood up from her desk and walked to the front of the room.

"Welcome all of you to your first history class of the year," she greeted. "My name is Izumi Curtis, Mrs. Curtis to you, and I'm sure we'll all get to know each other." She then gave a rather evil smirk then added, "Some of you I'll get to know more then others I'm sure. I'm not light on punishments."

I noticed Edward fake a shudder as she said this, and I looked over at him shaking my head. He saw me and grinned innocently, making me roll my eyes. Ed just chuckled quietly and tried to turn his attention to the teacher. I did the same, turning my head back to the front of the room.

"Ok, you here in the front, pass out the history books," Mrs. Curtis directed pointing to a shelf filled with large textbooks. The boy she was talking to, a rather pudgy kid with messy blond hair, stood up from his seat, walked over and grabbed some books, then started handing them out to each student.

While he was doing his job, Mrs. Curtis continued talking about how things would be working in her classroom. Most of it was all pretty basic, not much I hadn't heard before. The thing that really caught my attention however, was when she started talking about what would happen to people who fell asleep in class.

"Now, I want no slackers in this classroom! Not doing your work is one thing but what really ticks me of is when I'm up here doing my job teaching you little know-it-all's, and someone is sitting in the back snoring! If you fall asleep in my class you will regret it. Not only will you miss the lesson and therefore miss valuable information that you will need in the future, but you will also have to deal with me, which is not fun."

I turned and looked at Ed, expecting him to be a little nervous. But instead of being nervous he had a rather smug look on his face as he raised his hand.

"You in the back," the teacher sighed.

"What exactly are you gunna do to people who fall asleep?" Ed asked carelessly.

"I suppose you'll find out the first time you fall asleep, eh Blondie?" she replied in a sickeningly sweet voice. Ed's eyes narrowed slightly but nodded. With that Mrs. Curtis went on.

"Trying to get in trouble the first day?" I whispered to Edward. I had a bad feeling Ed was going to be a lot of trouble in this class in the future.

"What? I was just curious what I was gunna be up against," he replied, shrugging.

Yup, he was doomed.

The rest of the day went by without much event. After history, Ed and I split up again as we headed to our own classes. Finally, the day ended and we headed to the bus. Ed and I boarded and sat together again, this time he beat me to the window. In the back, Roy, Riza, and the rest of the gang that were at our lunch table, were talking and hanging out making quite a lot of noise. Edward was obviously ignoring them, immediately shoving his headphones into his ears, but I couldn't help but look back at them.

I was amazed at how well Riza seemed to fit in with all the guys. If I were in her situation, I would undoubtedly feel uncomfortable being surrounded by nothing but males; loud males at that.

Suddenly, Riza looked up and noticed I was looking at them. She said something to Roy and the others then moved up the bus to sit in the seat a crossed from me.

"Hello there Winry, you have a good first day?" she asked politely. I nodded and smiled.

"So um, Riza? Are you and Roy friends then?" I managed to ask. Riza gave me a strange look then chuckled.

"Yes we are, isn't it easy to tell?" her voice was still kind though I could sense a bit of teasing underneath.

"Well yeah, I guess I just thought, after this morning-"

"You thought I didn't like him? Yes well, we tease each other a lot, not to mention I was telling the truth. He really is ladies man wannabe."

With that we both burst out into giggles, making Edward finally notice Riza was there. She waved at him and he waved back, but continued to listen to his music.

"Well isn't he social?" Riza noted. I giggled again.

"He gets this way some times," I replied. I then leaned over and whispered, "He's really just shy that's all." This time Riza giggled.

"So," she whispered back, "do you and Ed have a thing going on or what?" I could feel my cheeks grow warm and my eyes widened. Was it that obvious that I liked him?

"No! Me and Ed are just friends, nothing more!" I whispered back harshly.

"Do you want there to be something more?" she pushed. My cheeks felt like they were about to explode as my heart began beating faster and faster.

"Hey Hawkeye!!!" I looked over then sighed in relief as Riza's attention shifted to whoever it was who called her.

"What do you want Breda?!" Riza snapped back, her voice loud and commanding.

"Get your little ass back here before the bus starts up!" Roy called. Riza sighed and shot an apologetic look in my direction.

"Talk to you later Winry." With that she stood up and went back with the guys. Shortly afterwards, the bus fired up and we headed home.

During the bus ride I had managed to get Ed to share a headphone with me so I had some sort of entertainment, so all the way home we were silent while we listened to music.

We finally reached our stop and hopped off the bus. While walking down the road we talked about how our day had gone and such things until we reached the point where we would both split up and head to our own houses. Just as we were about to say our goodbyes however, Edward's younger brother Alphonse ran up to us.

"Hi Winry, hi Brother!" he greeted, smiling ear to ear.

"Hi Al" both Ed and I said in unison. Al had apparently just got home himself because he was still in his uniform. His short brown hair was neatly combed and his hazel eyes were bright and full of energy.

"How was high school?" he asked happily.

"It was great. It's really not as scary as the make it out to be." Ed replied coolly.

"Really? I can't wait to join you guys next year!" Alphonse said.

"I can't wait either!" I grinned. "You'll love it." Al smiled at me then turned to Edward.

"Let's go Ed; mom's gunna be waiting."

"Ok. Well Winry, I'll see ya tomorrow." Ed nodded.

"Ok, see you guys!" I called after the Elric brothers as they walked off to their house. Edward raised his hand in response. I sighed, watching him leave, then turned and headed home.

I walked into the house and took a deep breath. First day of high school down with no real embarrassing moments. I went into the kitchen and grabbed myself a snack; in this case a piece of cake left over from last night, and sat down at the table. I nearly choked when my grandma's voice sounded off behind me.

"So much for healthy snacks"

I turned around to see my grandma smiling at me. I giggled and swallowed the bite that was in my mouth.

"Hey Granny," I said. She walked over to the table, and then sat down next to me.

"So, how was the first day?" she asked me.

"Pretty good, I think I've already made a friend. Her name is Riza, and she's really nice," I said.

"Oh really? Well that's good to hear."

"Yeah and I think Ed made an enemy. His name's Roy. The two of them got in a little argument on the bus this morning. In other words, Roy called Ed short," I chuckled. This caused Granny to laugh as well. We both got a kick out of Ed when he got mad about his height.

"Yes well, it isn't hard for Ed to make enemies."

Once I finished my cake, I told Granny about the rest of my day, excluding the part where Roy was obviously hitting on me, and then headed upstairs to my room. I changed out of my uniform and into a pair of comfy sweats and a tank top. Lying down on my bed, my mind instantly began to wander.

Riza had asked if I wanted there to be something between Ed and me. Was she simply teasing me, or was it obvious that I liked him? Of course the answer was yes. I had had a crush on Edward for years. Of course I wanted us to be something, something more than friends. The problem was my nerves and cautiousness. There was no way I could possibly tell him how I felt. Besides that, I didn't want to make him uncomfortable if he didn't feel the same way. We were best friends after all, and I didn't want to ruin that.

I rolled over on my stomach then reached over and turned on my CD player. The last CD I had been listening to was Lady Gaga's album "The Fame", and _Just Dance_ instantly came on. I sang along with it quietly. After a while I went over to my desk and turned on my computer. As soon as everything turned on and warmed up, I clicked on the little internet explorer icon at the bottom of the screen. I checked my e-mail then browsed the internet for about an hour then got bored and quit.

Sighing, I picked up the little clock on my desk and began playing with it, my mind drifting off in thought again. It wasn't long before the clock was in pieces.

_Crap, _I thought, _I didn't mean to do that. Oh well, putting it back together will give me something to do. _I easily began fixing my clock and had it back up and running again I about ten minutes.

I loved mechanics. I always had, and Ed had always teased me for it. I simply loved taking things apart, seeing how everything worked, then seeing if I could put it back together again. I loved how every inside piece had a purpose, helping other pieces work in a specific way, creating things that people enjoy using every single day. I found it all amazing, and it was too bad for Ed he just didn't get it. He was just a geek with things like chemical equations and crap like that. Not that I knew much about any of that.

God, I was thinking about Edward again. I really needed something else to think about. I was becoming hopelessly obsessed, and I knew if I were to get much worse, I would surely give myself away. I would do or say something stupid and Edward would get the hint. And that surely wouldn't lead to anything good.

I shook myself then decided I would try reading to get my mind off Ed. I grabbed the last book in the "Vampire Kisses" series and opened it up were I had just left off. Yeah the books were small, but they were still great. Ellen Schreiber was a great writer. I particularly liked the character Alexander Sterling, the vampire. He sounded so perfect; romantic, kind, and good looking.

I read for a few hours until, sadly, I finished the book. [The ending was great by the way] Just then, Granny called me down for dinner. I grinned. My plan had been successful. I had managed to not think about Edward for more than two hours.

"COMING!" I called, and then headed downstairs, stomach growling.

**Kurozu Chan: There's chapter 2!! Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are always loved!**


	3. Chapter 3: Plans

The next few weeks went on peacefully. I got fully adjusted to my schedule at school and had even managed to gain a few friends. That girl Sciezka from my science class had become a pretty good friend, and another girl named Paninya and I got along really well. She was in both my gym class and my engineering elective. I also had become used to Riza hanging out with the guys, usually that group with Roy, Havoc, Fuery, Falman, and Breda. I didn't really know much about the group but it didn't bother me much. What did bother me was the fact that Roy continued to give me looks from a crossed the room. Apparently he still had a thing for me.

Other then that everything was great. I actually was enjoying school. Then came the party, which all came to be because of Paninya.

Sciezka, Edward, and I were eating lunch, talking about Mrs. Curtis and how Edward had gotten in trouble with her again. Surprisingly enough, Edward actually didn't mind Sciezka and got along with her pretty well. I was about to say something but then jumped as a tray slammed down on the table next to me. I looked to see my perky friend Paninya slide into the seat beside me. Edward sighed as she sat. He was not a fan of her however. He put up with the girl fine but he often complained to me later about how she always gave him headaches and such. I had to admit, she did talk a lot and she was rather hyperactive, but I kind of liked that about her. She was almost always smiling and seemed to brighten the place up with her presence.

Paninya greeted Edwards sigh by sticking her tongue out at him then giggling. She then turned to Sciezka and me and smiled.

"Hey did you guys hear how it's supposed to be like, really warm this weekend?" she asked us. We nodded.

"Yeah isn't it supposed to be like ninety degrees or something like that? Probably the last warm weekend we'll get." Edward replied. Paninya grinned at him and I could see him forcing himself not to glare.

"Right, so I was thinking we should all have a big party or something at the lake to celebrate! We'll invite a whole bunch of people, have a barbeque, wear our bikinis and flaunt our stuff- oh, Ed you don't have to wear a bikini….unless you want to," she said. Now Ed was glaring at her, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Gee thanks Win, laugh along with her why don't you?" Ed sighed shaking his head. I suddenly felt bad but knew he wasn't all that mad. I was pretty sure he was used to us girls teasing him by now.

"Aw, come Ed, you know I'm just messing with ya. Guys are so easy to rile up when you mess with their pride," Paninya scoffed as she chucked a grape at Ed.

After talking it over, we agreed to have a party on Saturday at the lake. Paninya said I could invite anyone and that she would be inviting a few people as well. She said Sciezka and Ed could do the same.

"Who the hell am I supposed to invite? All my friends here are you girls" Ed complained as we headed for history.

"What about that Russell kid you were talking to?" I asked.

"He gets annoying" Ed replied bluntly, "but I might invite him because his little brother is Al's friend."

"He has a little brother? Huh, I didn't know that" I said, almost to myself.

"Who are you planning on inviting?" Ed sighed. I thought a moment then said,

"Well, probably Riza, but other then that I don't think I have anyone to invite."

Edward smiled slightly and said, "Well then, as long as Paninya doesn't go to crazy inviting people, this little party might not be too bad." I grinned as well and agreed that a small party with a few friends would be a lot of fun.

After school before I headed out to the bus, I ducked into the women's restroom. As I was about to exit my stall I heard a group of girls enter, talking and giggling about something. I wasn't paying them much mind however until I heard Paninya's voice among them. I was about to go out and see what they were all talking about when I heard another familiar voice.

"So Paninya, who else is gunna be at this party?"

I scowled as I recognized the voice of Rose. I'm not really sure why, but that girl set me on edge whenever I had to talk to her. There was just something about her that I didn't like. I felt anger bubble up inside me as I realized that Paninya had invited her to the party.

"Let's see, it'll be us, Sciezka, Winry, Edward-" Paninya began listing.

"Wait, you mean Edward Elric?" Rose interrupted.

"Yup" Paninya replied.

"Oh my god, Edward will be there?" one of the girl squealed.

"Oh my gosh, we'll get to see him shirtless!" Rose added.

"Down girls down!" Paninya chuckled. "Seriously, you guys are crushing so hard on that pipsqueak."

"Come on Paninya, you have to admit he's cute!" Rose prompted. The sound of her voice was beginning to really tick me off, not to mention hearing these girls talk about Ed like that was enraging.

"Sorry Rose, but I don't crush on guys who are that much shorter then me," my friend laughed.

"But he's a nice guy, he helps me out in science a lot" the unfamiliar girl said. "Not to mention hot."

I had heard enough. I flushed then exited my stall, walking over to the sink, doing my best to ignore the group of girls. But then Paninya called me out.

"Hey Girlie! I didn't know your were in here!" she called out. I smiled at her and nodded, but said nothing. As I was about to leave I was called out to again, this time by none other then Rose.

"Hey Winry, just a question, what do you think of Edward?"

I stopped dead in my tacks then turned.

"What do mean? Ed and I are just childhood friends." I replied, hoping I sounded convincing.

"Oh really? Ok, just wondering, cuz you two are always together."

At this I simply left and headed out to the bus.

By the time I got on the bus, most people were already there. Thankfully, Ed had saved me seat, so I made my way down the isle and sat down next to him.

"There you are. What took you so long?" Ed asked curiously. I sighed then turned to smile at him.

"Sorry, I had to use the bathroom" I said, totally skipping the awkward moments with Paninya, Rose, and that other girl.

Ed chuckled as the bus began to move. "You almost missed the bus."

"Yeah well, I made it," I sighed as I leaned back on the seat. I had a throbbing headache. I could feel Ed's eyes on me, but I closed mine and pretended to not notice.

"Winry, is something up?" he asked. I could hear the slight worry in his voice and knowing that he cared about me made me want to just spill out everything that was on my mind to him. I wanted to tell him my feelings for him, and how Rose and that other girl had been talking about him, and how it made me mad just to listen to them. But of course, I didn't. I couldn't. No matter how hard I wanted to, I always felt something holding me back.

"Winry" Ed repeated. I opened my eyes and looked over at him.

"Huh?" I asked innocently.

"What happened? I can tell something's up."

Damn, this boy read me like an open book! I guess that's what came from growing up together.

"It's nothing really Edward, I just have a headache."

He looked me over, obviously not buying it.

"Was it Roy again?"

"No Ed, it wasn't. I'm ok really."

Ed was silent for a moment then leaned back, sighing.

"You know you can tell if anything's bothering you," he sighed quietly. For some reason this little comment made me blush. I swallowed and tried to make myself stop blushing.

"I know," I muttered as I looked down at my lap. Both of us were silent the rest of the ride home.

**Kurozu-Chan: Well, there's chapter 3! I have no idea when chapter 4 will be out, but it should be soon. As always, reviewers are loved!!!**

**See you in chapter 4!!**


	4. Chapter 4: Dislike

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! Here's chapter 4 as a your reward! =3**

I took in a deep breath of the hot steamy air around me as warm water poured down my body. I was completely relaxed, with nothing on my mind. Maybe that was because I was practically asleep on my feet. A yawn escaped my lips and I shook my head, trying to wake up a bit.

"Come on," I told myself blearily. "You gotta go invite Riza to the party and keep that hag, Rose off of Edward."

The thought of having to deal with Rose not only at school, but also at our party this weekend made me want to curl up in bed and go back to sleep for a long time. Why had Paninya inviter her of all people? Her perky voice and constant drooling over Edward was seriously annoying.

But maybe I had no right to get mad, I mean, I'm rather obsessive over Ed myself. Was I just being a jealous jerk? Did I really have the right to hate her simply because she was crushing on _my _crush?

I giggled softly. Yes, maybe I was just being jealous, but knowing that didn't make me dislike Rose any less. In fact, my distaste for her had only grown after yesterday in the bathroom and it wasn't about to diminish!

"_Yup Winry, you're a jealous jerk alright" _I thought to myself with a smirk.

I turned the knob to the right and the water turned off. I pulled back the curtain and stepped out of the shower, wrapping myself up in a towel. I got dressed then brushed out and dried my hair.

Deciding to push Rose to the back of my mind, I headed downstairs wondering what I wanted for breakfast. Sadly, the big egg breakfast thing like on my first day, was a one time deal. Granny had to go to work in the mornings so I was left to make my own breakfasts. I didn't mind though, it's not like pouring a bowl of cereal and a glass of juice would kill me.

I got downstairs and wandered into the kitchen. After getting a bowl of Apple Jacks and a glass of orange juice I sat down at the table and ate. As I was munching away on those delicious little O's, my mind drifted off as usual. This time I began thinking about this weekend.

It sure had been a while since I had last gone to the beach. And I sadly had to admit the thought of Ed in his swimsuit did cause my fangirlish heart to flutter. But in my defense, the kid had a really nice chest. It was perfectly natural for a girl my age to get excited about seeing a guy with a good chest, right?

I was pretty sure the answer to that question was yes so I left it at that and finished up my breakfast. I threw my dishes in the sink and ran upstairs to finished getting ready. [hair, earrings, ect.] Once I was satisfied, I grabbed my book bag off my bed and headed out for the bus.

Upon exiting my house I was immediately greeted by my faithful and lovable dog, Den. He ran up to be panting and I bent down to scruff his ears in response.

"Hey Den, how are you today boy?"

I was so busy petting Den I didn't hear the footsteps of someone approaching.

"Morning you two."

I jumped and let out a little "squee" of surprise then looked up to see Edward standing there.

"Jeez Ed, do you get some twisted enjoyment out of scaring the crap outta me by sneaking up on me like that?!" I shouted as I playfully hit him on the head. Of course my playful hits aren't light, so I got an "ouch" in response.

"Sorry, I was just early this morning so I headed over to meet up with you. It's not my fault you're so jumpy," Ed explained while rubbing his head irritably. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I'm not jumpy!"

He simply rolled his eyes at me and gave Den a pat on the head before turning.

"Well, let's get going then," he said. I followed, telling Den to stay, which he did. We arrived at the bus stop and about 30 seconds later, the bus pulled up.

Once we got to our seats Ed whispered, "Well we barely made it in time. If we had missed the bus I would have been seriously pissed."

I nodded in agreement.

As the bus made its rout, I leaned back and stared out the window, still feeling pretty tired. I was completely zoned out and almost didn't notice as Riza walked by me on her way to her seat in the back.

"Hey Riza," I called back to her. She looked back, saw me, and made her way back up to me.

"Hey good morning you two" she greeted. Ed nodded at her in response.

"Morning," I said. "Say, we're having a party down at the lake this weekend. Do you wanna come?"

Riza's kind smile widened.

"A party you say? Well that sounds like it should be pretty fun."

I nodded. "Yup, on Saturday, Ed, Paninya, Sciezka, me, and some other people are all going down to the lake to celebrate probably one of the last hot days of the year. You should come! You could invite who ever you wanted too." I explained.

"Well sure, I'll see if I can go" Riza grinned. "Ok, well I better get back to my seat, talk to you later Winry, you too Ed," and with that she got up and went back to the back.

As soon as she left, Ed turned to me. "You are aware that she's almost definitely going to invite _all _of those guys in her group, along with that jerk Mustang right?" he asked unhappily.

I nodded. "Well yeah, she has the right to invite her friends."

Ed looked at me like I had spoken a foreign language.

"Winry, before long we're gunna have the whole damned high school at the lake. And I really don't want Roy there to ruin my perfectly good day."

As if on cue, the bus stopped at the next stop and Roy hopped on. As he walked by he winked at me, and then sat back with Riza and a few of the others who were there already. I did my best to ignore him while Ed snorted.

"Look at him, acting like he's all that. I'd love to go push him off of his make-believe throne."

I laughed. Ed sure knew how to say something like that, that was absolutely true, yet funny at the same time.

School seemed to be dragging on forever, until finally lunch time rolled around. My usual gang, Ed, Paninya, Sciezka and I, were all sitting together when suddenly Riza walked up to us.

"Hey Winry, just letting you know that I invited Fuery, Havoc, Breda, Falman, Roy, and our other friend Hughes to the party thing this Saturday. Is that alright?"

I could almost hear Ed thinking "NO" next to me, but I smiled up and Riza and said, "Yup that's great!"

"Awesome, can't wait," she said, then headed back to her table.

"Wow," Paninya said. "I'm thinking this is gunna be a pretty big party!"

"Great, who all did you invite?" Ed asked irritably.

"Well let's see. I invited Rose, Noah, Armony, and a girl named Ruby. You guys don't know her but she's cool. Then we have Winry here who invited Riza who invited all those guys. Sciezka, did you invite anyone?"

Sciezka looked at us sheepishly. "Well, uh, I didn't really have anyone to invite actually."

"Hey, that's fine" Paninya reassured her. "So Ed, who'd you invite?"

Edward sighed.

"Well, my little brother Alphonse is coming, and I invited Russell Tringum and his little brother Fletcher. That's it for me."

"Well shit, we've got how many then?" Paninya began counting people up. "Shit, 18 people! Now that's a party!"

I heard Edward groan slightly. I knew he wasn't all that thrilled to hear so many people would be coming.

And it just kept adding on from there.

Later on that day, Riza came up to me saying that that Hughes guy she had invited wanted to bring his girlfriend. I couldn't say no, so that made 19 people coming. A bit later, a terrified Sciezka came up to me saying someone by the name of Alex Louise Armstrong had heard about the party and had been heart broken because he hadn't been invited. She had invited him then to be nice and apparently he had burst into happy tears and bear hugged her afterwards.

"Come on Sciezka, why are you so shaken up? It was just a hug wasn't it?" I had asked.

"Winry, Armstrong is not normal. He is walking muscle. He's gigantic!! Being bear hugged by him nearly crushed me. The odd thing is he's extremely emotional from what I can see. He burst into tears and started saying things about how wonderful it was that I was so polite and that I was now one of his closest friends" she exclaimed shakily.

I took note to stay clear of anyone with large muscles at the party. I also took note that there were now 20 people coming.

Finally school ended and I headed out to the bus loading area. I found Edward making his way towards the bus through the sea of people. I did my best to forge through myself and eventually made it on. I had just seated myself next to Edward as usual when I heard a voice directly behind me.

"Well hey there Winry!"

I turned and was face to face with a particular tan skinned, pink banged, brown haired girl.

"Oh, hey Rose" I replied emotionlessly. I looked over to see one of her little followers seated next to her. She too had darker skin and brown hair, but thankfully no pink bangs.

"You don't usually ride on this bus do you?" I asked Rose nonchalantly.

" Yeah, but I'm going to Noah's house today," she replied while nodding towards her friend next to her, "and then I saw Edward sitting here and thought we might as well sit behind our friend" she added on. The look she cast over to Edward made my skin crawl. Ed looked back at her and smiled, obviously not understanding Rose's true intentions.

"Well that's nice," I sighed and turned around, nudging Ed in the ribs as I did so. He looked down at me, confusion in his eyes. I heard Rose and Noah break off into their own little conversation so I leaned over to Ed and whispered,

"Why did you let _them_ sit there?"

He looked at me, obviously still a bit confused, then quietly replied, "I have no right to say where they sit. They can sit where ever they want, it's not my bus."

I glared at him. Damn boys could be so stupid.

"Ed, you could have easily said someone was already sitting there or something. But no, you just _had _to make all friendly with _her _didn't you?"

"So I'm guessing you don't like them?" he asked bluntly.

I blinked, and then face palmed his forehead.

"No, what ever gave you that idea?" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

He scowled at me for hitting him then shrugged. "How am I supposed to know these things huh?" he sighed. "She said she was friends with you when she introduced herself."

"She did what?!" I asked way too loudly and probably a bit squeakily. I bit my lip and did all I could from exploding into a fit of rage. Ok yeah sure, Rose wasn't aware of my hatred for her. In fact, she probably thought I liked her. But I didn't. And the fact that she told Ed she was my friend and was now acting all buddy like with him made my blood boil.

_Calm down Winry, she's just on our bus for today. Don't let her get to you._

"So Ed, you excited for the party this weekend?" Rose asked in a sickly sweet voice as she leaned over the back of our seat. Edward nodded.

"Huh? Oh, yeah it should be fun," he replied. "Though it sounds like there's gunna be a lot of people."

"There are 20 of us last I heard," I interrupted.

"20?!? I thought it was only 18" Ed exclaimed.

"Yeah well we picked up two more."

"Wow, sounds like it's going to be busy," Rose giggled. I shot a quick glare at her over my shoulder then sunk down into the seat, deciding to ignore the rest of the conversation. I was in a foul mood and didn't want her to catch on and start questioning me about it.

Finally, she and Noah got off the bus. My head was throbbing, and I was happy Ed and I were the last ones to get dropped off so we had a little bit of silence.

"Sorry about that Win," Ed apologized as he leaned against the window. "If I had known you didn't like her I would have done something to make her sit somewhere else."

"It's ok Ed, you didn't know" I sighed.

"I won't let it happen again," he said. The warmth and honesty in his voice made me smile. Dumb as he may be at times, he still was a sweetheart.

I looked up and him a laughed a little.

"Alright."

And with that, I tiredly rested my head down on his shoulder. Ed stiffened for a moment then relaxed a bit. We were all alone on the bus so I didn't have to worry about anyone gawking at us. Plus his shoulder was so much more comfortable then the bus seats. I took a deep breath, taking in his scent, closed my eyes, and relaxed the rest of the way home.

**Kurozu-chan: Ta-dah, there it is! Sorry if it's not the best, but most of the time I was working on this, I was really tired. ^^" But please, reviews are very loved! They really keep me going. So please review, and I look forward to seeing you all in chapter 5!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Party! part 1

**A/N: Gomenasai! I seriously did not mean for this chapter to take so long to come out!! I know you're all anxious to read about the party [don't blame you, I mean hey, shirtless Ed!] *ehem* The thing is we've been trying to get all moved into our new house [moving, ick] so I've been super busy. x.x But I think we're pretty much all set now so the next chapter should come much quicker!**

**I apologize for the wait and thank you all for you're patience! Please enjoy chapter 5, 'The party! Part 1'!**

The hands of time are more often then not, against you. For instance, say you have a huge test coming up and you're really dreading it. Time will suddenly speed up and before you know it, the test is tomorrow and you've barely studied. On the other hand, say you have a party coming up that weekend, and you're totally pumped for it. Again, time will rear its ugly head, this time being extremely slow, leaving you to sit and twiddle your thumbs while you count the seconds passing by.

This second scenario was me. The next few days for me seemed to be dragging by slower then molasses as I waited for the big party on Saturday. The only thing I wasn't excited for was dealing with Rose, obviously.

Then finally, after what seemed like years, Saturday came.

I woke up Saturday morning, ate a delicious and sugary breakfast of pancakes, then got ready for the party. As the forecast had predicted, it was already really warm and was just getting warmer.

I decided it would be easiest to wear my swimsuit and throw some shorts on overtop of it. I put on my bikini, which was a light blue with cute little pink Hawaiian flowers on it, then put on some short denim shorts. Deciding to do something different, I put my hair up in pigtails instead of a ponytail. I smiled, looking myself over in the mirror. Good enough.

I went back to my room and packed a beach towel and some sun tan lotion. The last thing I wanted was sunburn! Just as I was thinking if I would need anything else, my cell phone started to ring. I recognized the ringer immediately as Edward's, and raced to my phone to answer it.

"Hello" I answered.

Hey Win, you about ready?" came Edward's reply.

"Yup, are you?"

"Al's just finishing up. We'll be there to pick you up in about 5 minutes ok?"

"Alrighty! Are we picking anyone else up, like Russell and Fletcher? Or do they have their own rides?" I asked.

"Nope, it just us."

"Cool, ok I'll see in a few then!"

"Ok, see ya"

_**Click**_

_Alright here we go! This is either going to be a great day, or Rose and the other fangirls are going to ruin it for me. I'm praying it'll be good. _I thought to myself as I headed out of my room and down the stairs. As soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs my stomach growled.

"Shoot" I muttered. _Well, there's probably gunna be food at the lake, _I thought reasonably. I headed out to the front door but stopped as I noticed a bunch of bananas on the counter in the kitchen. Taking a quick detour, I ducked into the kitchen and snatched a banana. Hey, I needed _something_ to tide me over until we got there; a growing girl needs her food after all!

I was just throwing my banana peel away when I saw Hoenheim's tan colored truck pull in. Oh, Hoenheim is Ed and Al's dad by the way. Apparently he was the one who was driving us to and from the lake.

"Granny I'm leaving now!" I yelled, having absolutely no idea where in the house she was at.

"Bye Winry, have fun!" came her reply from wherever she was. I grinned and headed out the door to find Ed out of the truck as if he was just about to come get me.

"Look at that, I just climbed out of the truck for nothing," he sighed in fake annoyance. I smiled and swatted him in the shoulder.

"Oh, poor baby" I cooed.

"Yeah shut up, I can easily make you walk to the lake" he threatened. I rolled my eyes at him and hopped into the truck. I slid down the seat so I was in the middle, right next to Al, to make room for Ed to sit. Ed jumped in and closed the door after him.

"Hey Winry!" Al greeted cheerfully.

"Hey Al!" I returned, just as cheerfully.

I looked up to see Hoenheim sitting behind the wheel with a nifty pair of sunglasses on, and his wife Trisha was seated next to him in the passenger's seat looking back at me.

"Hi there Winry, how have you been?" she asked sweetly.

"I've been great, thanks" I replied warmly. I loved Ed and Al's parents. Trisha was the sweetest thing on earth and Hoenheim was just all around a great guy; funny too. I seriously didn't understand why Ed didn't get along well with him.

Just then Hoenheim turned around and peered at me over the tops of his sunglasses.

"So, are you going sight seeing?" he asked me seriously. I raised an eyebrow at him, not really understanding what he meant.

"Sight seeing?"

"Yeah, for that wild species. You know, the one they call 'guys'"

I burst out in giggles as Ed just sighed.

"Come on old man, let's get going!" he said.

Hoenheim looked at him for several seconds before sticking his tongue out then whipping around and starting the truck, laughing warmheartedly. Edward just shook his head.

"So Trisha, why'd you come along just to drop us off?" I asked as we headed down the road.

"Oh, Hoenheim and I are going into to town to run some errands after we drop you guys off," she replied. "We're having stew for dinner tonight but I need the ingredients for it."

"We're having stew? Sweet!" Ed cheered. He loved stew; in fact it was his favorite dish as far as I knew.

"Got it" I laughed. Ed reminded me of a little kid the way he got all excited over things like stew.

The rest of the ride was just random small talk until finally we reached the lake. When we arrived and found a place to park, Ed, Al, and I grabbed our stuff and got out of the truck. I felt the hot sun hit me immediately, causing my lips to turn up in a relaxed smile. Finally we where here!

"Have fun you three!" Trisha called after us. I saw Hoenheim wink at us before Ed closed the door with a slam.

"Alright, let's go find everyone shall we?" Ed suggested.

"No need" I interjected. Ed looked at me, obviously a little confused, until he followed my gaze. There running toward us was the dark skinned, hyperactive Paninya, with a rather pale Sciezka struggling to keep up behind.

"There you guys are!" Paninya exclaimed right before she slammed into me. I was just barely able to stay up on my feet as she hit me then clung there for a moment or two before finally letting go.

"Well who's this?" she asked, suddenly seeing Al.

"Uh, hi, I'm Edwards's younger brother Alphonse" he introduced politely.

"Oh, Al! Ed's told me a bit about you! It's a pleasure to meet cha'! I'm Paninya!"

"Yeah, Ed's told me a bit about you too actually" Al laughed. Paninya's gaze suddenly snapped over to Edward.

"Oh has he really? Was he saying how I'm such a great person and that he's just so happy to have me as a friend?" she asked, more threateningly then anything.

"Well actually…" Al trailed off, grinning ear to ear.

"Well what are we doing just standing here huh? Let's get down to the water!" Ed laughed nervously, obviously wanting to get of that particular topic.

"I'm all for that!" I chipped in. Sciezka just nodded.

"Oh by the way Al, this is Sciezka. Sciezka, Al" Paninya introduced, waving her hands at Al and Sciezka as she said their names.

"Nice to meet you Sciezka," Al smiled kindly.

"Nice to meet you too," Sciezka returned.

Finally we headed down to the water and found all of our assorted friends and acquaintances scattered all along the shore.

Roy, Riza, and Havoc were all standing at some barbeque grills, trying to get some hamburgers going while Fuery, Falman, Breda, and a few other people teased them. I saw Rose and her cronies wading out in the water along with Russell, all having a conversation of some sort. A bit farther out in the water I saw Russell's younger brother Fletcher and a girl with black hair playing around and swimming. On the shore, relaxing in the sun, where a guy and girl I didn't recognize and an extremely large muscular man.

"Why do I get the feeling there are more than 20 people here…" I murmured.

"Find some empty shore and lay down your towels guys!" Paninya instructed, ignoring my little comment.

"Yeah and good luck with that" Sciezka piped up. I looked through the sea of beach towels, cursing the fact that we seemed to be the last people to arrive.

"Great," I sighed.

"Hey, I see some space over there! It might be kinda tight but I think we can all three fit there" Al exclaimed while pointing at a bare patch of sand.

"Alright, nice going Al!" Ed cheered as he headed to the spot. Al beamed and followed his brother. _So much for a small party with a few friends _I thought as I recalled my first thoughts when we decided to throw this party. _Small party my ass. _

After getting our things set up, I plopped down on my towel, slipped off my shorts, and pulled out my sun tan lotion. I poured some into my hands then started rubbing my arms and legs with it. As I was doing so Ed sat down on his towel next to me. He started to take off his shirt, the movement catching my eye. I peeked over at him as he removed his shirt, and found myself marveling over his chest.

_.God. Right there! Right next me! Damn he has such a nice body! He even has a six pack!_

"Hey Win, could I use some of you're sun block? I forgot mine"

I heard his voice but didn't really hear what he was saying. I looked up at him, tearing my eyes away from his chest.

"What?" I said dumbly. I inwardly kicked myself being such a fangirl. _WHY DID I SAY 'WHAT'?! Stupid Winry, stupid!_

"I said, can I use some of you're sun block?" he repeated.

"Oh, sun block! Here," I blabbed as I handed the bottle to him.

"Thanks" he said as he took it from me. He didn't seem to notice the fact that I had just been checking him out, thankfully.

_Okay, what was I thinking! There are people everywhere!! And if he had noticed_ _I was looking at him like that…WHY AM I SO HOPELESS!!!_

My inner fit of despair was interrupted by Paninya who had made her way over to us.

"Hey guys, lets go swim!" she exclaimed.

"I'll go later, I'm gunna relax a bit right now," Ed replied as he lay down. I was about to so no too, especially since Rose was out there, but then decided it was really hot and submerging myself in water sounded great. Not to mention sitting next to shirtless Ed was too risky at the moment.

"Ok I'll come!" I smiled as I stood up.

"Sweet! Al, are you coming?" Paninya asked.

"Sure!" he nodded.

"You sure you don't wanna come Ed?" Paninya pushed. He just nodded.

"Yup, I'll be there in a bit, you guys go ahead." 

Paninya shrugged then headed to the water. Al and I followed leaving Ed to relax.

The cold water splashed around my ankles as I stepped into the lake. I felt the sand squish under my feat as I walked making me smile. I could remember when Ed, Al, and I would come to the lake all the time as little kids.

"Hey Al, do you remember when we would have mud fights all the time out here?" I asked. Al looked at me and smiled.

"Yeah, Ed would always make you cry because he'd throw the mud right at your face, then he'd feel bad and try to cheer you up. I remember once when that happened, he gave you his cocoa later that night to make up for it. Man we were so young back then."

"Haha, yeah I remember that! Then I had two cups of cocoa and you started complaining you wanted two cups as well. Then we all got in a big argument about it! Oh man, to think we would get so riled up about something like cocoa!" I chuckled.

We both started laughing. Man it had been to long since I had just chatted with Al. Since summer ended I had hardly seen him at all.

"Come on, lets go into the deeper water," he said as he began to wade farther out. I followed, smiling like a fool. Soon we were out deep enough that the water was up to our chests. I held my breath and dived under, then popped back up.

"Much better," I sighed as I pushed my now wet bangs out of my face. "The upper half of me was burning!"

Al laughed then dived under as well. He popped back up and shook his head, causing water to splash all over the place.

"Jeez Al, you remind me of Den!" I laughed. Al laughed too.

"Gee thanks Win, so I'm a dog now?"

"Hey, Dens a perfect gentleman!" I defended.

"Yeah, a hairy one at that." Al teased.

We where both silent for a moment until Al said,

"Hey, I noticed you put you're hair up differently today. I like it."

For some reason or another I felt my cheeks grow warm.

"Oh really? Um, thanks, I just wanted to try something different I guess." I replied.

"Well it's cute" he smiled.

_Ok how did this suddenly become awkward for me? Ok yes, Al is really cute but I like Edward! Ed, not Al! I've never felt this way around Al before._

The smile began to fade from Al's face a bit and I noticed his cheeks turn a slightly darker color. He looked down at the water and cleared his throat.

"Uh Winry?"

"Yeah Al?"

"Um, well you see I um…I wanna tell you something"

I felt my throat begin to tighten as I listened. Why did I not like where this was goin?

"What is it Al?" I prompted, wishing I felt as calm as I sounded. Al looked up at me and met my gaze.

"Winry, I, I li-"

Before Al was able to finish I felt something in the water grab onto my leg. My eyes widened and I was about to looked down when whatever it was yanked me under. I let out a scream before water rushed over me and I kicked furiously at whatever it was that had dragged me under. But my leg had already been freed. I surfaced and took in a gasp of air. I instantly heard the laughter of Edward Elric.

"Haha I got you good! You didn't even know I was coming! And I heard your scream from under water! Oh man that was priceless!" Ed laughed hysterically. I however, did not find this funny.

"Eeeeedwaaaard…" I growled as I glared at the older Elric. He took a look at me and immediately stopped laughing.

"Aw shit!" he gasped as I lunged myself at him. He tried to evade me but I was to fast for him. I landed on his back, forcing him and myself under. I surfaced moments before him and started to swim away as fast as I could but he quickly caught up and wrapped his arms around my waist in a firm grasp.

"I gotcha" he whispered. His breath tickled against my ear making my cheeks blaze. Oh, not to mention his arms were around my waist and I was pressed right against his chest!!!

"EEEP! Edward let go NOW!" I squealed as I twisted and writhed trying my hardest to escape his hold. This was just way to much at once for me to handle!

"Fine, have it you're way," Ed chuckled evilly. With that he picked me up then threw me into the water. I landed with a loud _splash! _

_That boy is so gunna get it!_

I surfaced and looked around hastily, finding Ed was already fleeing toward the shore. I made my way over to him as fast as I could, hungry for revenge. As I was chasing however, I heard Paninya call out to me.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she called. I spared her a small glance then shouted,

"Sorry can't talk! I gotta go get Ed!" and with that I was off again. Suddenly Paninya was sloshing through the water at my side.

"Attacking Ed sounds fun! I wanna help!" she exclaimed.

"Ok you can help!" I nodded. Soon Ed emerged at the shore and stopped to take a little breather. He looked back and I saw his eyes grow huge as he saw Paninya with me.

"No fair! You can't have help!" he whined. As we grew closer he took off running along the very edge of the shore. We reached land and sped off after him.

"No good, this kid is to damn fast for us!" Paninya panted. "We have to get him back in the water where we have a chance."

I nodded and looked at our situation. We had run past the beachy part of the shore and now were running by a more forested area. Edward wasn't too far ahead of us, and a plan clicked.

"Paninya, we need to split up! You go into the woods and do all you can to catch up! Then ambush him. With one of us on either side, he'll have no choice but to go back to the water!"

Paninya nodded and dived into the trees. I continued running after Edward, breathing heavily. _I wonder if he's as tired out as I am?_ I wondered.

Suddenly Paninya burst out of the trees directly in front of Edward. Ed yelped and stopped. He looked back at me then hastily charged into the water.

_PERFECT!_

He didn't get far before Paninya jumped onto his back. He turned and flung her off just in time for my turn. I flung myself at him, all my weight hitting him at that speed knocking him over.

He landed with a little splash and a grunt, me now on top of him.

He propped himself up on his elbows to get his head out of the water, even though it was only about 2 inches deep where we where. He gasped slightly then tilted his head back, breathing heavily. I looked down at him as I sat there straddling him. Ok yeah, I didn't really realize what I was doing at that moment, cuz if I did I would have surely gotten up at the speed of light.

"Ok, you win, I'm exhausted!" Ed groaned.

"That'll teach you" I teased as I stuck my tongue out at him. He looked at me smiling slightly. Our eyes met and I totally forgot Paninya was standing there next to us. I could feel every breath Edward took as his stomach rose and fell rhythmically. Water droplets dripped down his features, and I noticed his long beautiful hair was down and hanging freely.

"Winry..." he said quietly. The way my name sounded when he said it quietly like that made me shiver.

"Yes Edward?" I replied softly.

"Could you maybe, get off me now?" he asked moronically. I looked down and finally everything hit me.

_Yikes! Why am I still sitting on him! How embarrassing!!_

I jumped off of Edward and offered my hand to help him up. He took it and soon we were all three standing there. [Yes, Paninya was there through that whole scenario! ACK!]

"Well, we should head back, I bet they finally got the food done by now," Edward said after an awkward silence.

"Yes food! That's what we need!" Paninya said as she looked from me to Edward, then back to me again.

We started walking back to everyone else, Ed in the lead. Paninya stayed back with me, giving me odd looks as we walked. I finally looked over at her and mouthed the word, 'what?'

She nodded her head towards Edward and whispered, "What was that?"

"What was what?" I replied blankly.

"Hello, the whole sitting on top of your 'childhood friend' looking down at him like a love stuck puppy!" she replied.

"Shh! I was not!" I hissed, really not wanting this conversation to continue. She didn't seem to buy it at all.

"Winry, don't lie to me, you're a real bad liar. Just admit it, you like him!" she pressed.

"Ok fine, maybe I do, but don't tell anyone! I mean it!" I muttered.

"Mum's the word Doll, but seriously, why didn't you tell me earlier? You trust me don't you?"

I looked down at the ground and smiled. Of course I trusted her. I had just told her my deepest secret.

"Sorry" was all I said.

"What are you two whispering about back there?" Ed asked as he looked back at us.

"Nothing at all Eddie, just some girly stuff that you wouldn't be interested in" Paninya replied casually. Ed gave her an extremely confused look.

"Eddie?" he repeated.

"Yeah, it's my new nickname for you! You like it?" she grinned.

"Um no, not so much" he snorted.

Paninya sped up so she was walking right next to him then sighed.

"Fine, I guess Short Stuff is just gunna be you're nickname for the rest of your life."

"WHAT?! SHORT?!? Who are you calling a micro-sized speck of dust on top of an ant!?!?!"

With that little outburst Paninya started running, an enraged Edward chasing behind. I laughed, all awkward feelings from a few moments ago gone, then started running to catch up.

**A/N: Ok well there's chapter 5! Again sorry it took so long to come out, and sorry there wasn't any drama with Rose or Roy or anything yet! The next chapter definitely will have some! The party isn't over yet! Oh and what did you think about the thing with Al? Looks like he was about to tell Winry something important! To bad Ed interrupted, of course. Well, see you all in chapter 6!**

**~Kurozu-chan **


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